Report illegal gambling and advertising

04, Jun 2012

If you find illegal gambling, i.e. gambling or a gambling operator without a licence e.g. a gambling site on the internet which does not hold a licence from the Danish Gambling Authority, you may address the Danish Gambling Authority no matter whether you are a gambler or a trader.

You may also address the Danish Gambling Authority if you find any advertising for illegal gambling or gambling operators.
You can report the illegal gambling or advertising via Contact. 
Please notice that it is not possible to be anonymous when you make a written report. You can read more about your rights as an informer at SKAT's webpage skat.dk (link is external) (only available in Danish).
It will be of great help if you inform about domain name/the name of the media and the date of the advertising in your report and if you attach documentation for the illegal gambling/advertising.

What happens to the report

One of the main functions of the Danish Gambling Authority is to protect the legal gambling market, i.e. the gambling operators who have obtained a licence. Therefore we are always interested in information about advertising for or provision of gambling without a licence.
Your report will be part of our supervision of the gambling market. We will always examine whether advertising for or provision of gambling without a licence has taken place.
Gambling operators who provide gambling without a licence will receive a notice of contravention to stop the illegal gambling. In the end we may take a County Court action in order to block the web page in question.
Likewise, media which advertise gambling or gambling operators without a licence will receive a notice of contravention to stop the illegal advertising. If the media does not stop the illegal advertising it will be reported to the police.

Illegal gambling

Gambling operators must hold a licence from the Danish Gambling Authority in order to provide gambling in Denmark, e.g. casino, betting or poker. Both online and land-based gambling, that is physical locations such as casinos and gaming machine arcades, require a licence from the Danish Gambling Authority.
Lottery games such as lotto, scratch cards and bingo where you pay a deposit, the chance of winning a prize is only based on coincidence, and the participants have a chance of winning a prize through the payment, may only be provided by Danske Spil A/S, Klasselotteriet A/S, Varelotteriet and Landbrugslotteriet. Gambling sites on the internet which provide bingo and where you must pay to participate are therefore illegal unless the provider is e.g. Danske Spil A/S.

Gambling operators with a licence

In the list of licence holders concerning betting and online casino - you can find information of who holds a licence to provide betting and online casino. The list also contains information about which domain names have obtained a licence.
You will also find a list of licence holders to gaming machines and licence holders to organize poker tournaments.
Danske Spil, Det Danske Klasselotteri, Landbrugslotteriet and Varelotteriet also have a licence to organize lottery activities. Furthermore, the Danish Gambling Authority issues licences to charity lotteries and local pool betting.

Labelling scheme

The Danish Gambling Authority has made a labelling scheme in order to make security about betting and online casino. The labelling scheme can help players get an overview of which gambling operators hold a licence and therefore follow the Danish legislation.
All gambling operators who hold a licence to organize gambling activities in Denmark may use the label in their marketing e.g. on their webpage, in TV ads and in adverts. The gambling operators may choose if they want to use the label on their webpage or in their marketing.
You can find more about the label under Labelling scheme.

Illegal advertising

Gambling operators which do not hold a licence to provide gambling in Denmark are not allowed to advertise. Any advertising of gambling and gambling operators without a licence is not allowed. Media, e.g. newspapers, radio and TV stations and magazines may not contain advertising of gambling and gambling operators without a licence no matter whether it is physical media or media on the internet.
Sponsoring is covered by the ban on advertising. A sponsorship is typically a contribution to an activity, an event or similar in order to promote the sale of the gambling operator's products. The gambling operator often expects a quid pro quo such as positive publicity or advertising.

Record

Your report will always be registered because the Danish Gambling Authority as a public authority must register all enquiries.
We refer to the rules in the Danish Act on Processing of Personal Data.